(Film Review) ‘A Single Man’ explores the alienation of gay individuals by Jeremy Clemmons, Staff Writer

The valences of life are often determined by those we love and how they move us, keep us in place, and keep us from falling into the deep end. The loss of a loved one—especially a lover, can send us astray, moving us ever closer toward the impregnable fate we had coming all along.

Such is the story of “A Single Man,” Tom Ford’s fascinating, though somewhat misplaced, adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s classic 1964 novel of the same name. The film, starring Colin Firth – whose worn handsomeness and modest feeling are of perfect caliber for the role – depicts a day in the life of George Falconer, a university professor reeling from the recent death of a lover (Matthew Goode).

Both the novel and the movie concern George’s crisis of meaning, in the wake of his loss; however, what sets George’s story apart from countless others is that he is gay. When a former female lover, Charley (sharply played by the ever-reliable Julianne Moore), attempts to reason with George’s bereavement by demeaning the depth of his and Jim’s relationship, we witness the unfortunate reality behind George’s isolated mourning. Earlier, when Jim’s brother breaks the news of the fatal accident, George is told, coldly over the phone, not to come to the funeral; he is not invited. “Family only,” says the brother.

It is the specter of alienation that hangs over the entirety of “A Single Man”—not just in George’s imminent suffering but through his debility to connect with others, even homosexuals. Ford, previously the creative director for Gucci, adorns his film with an array of beautiful individuals, both men and women, but reserves his finest brushstrokes, accents of chiaroscuro and sanguine lighting, for the gorgeous young men (Nicholas Hoult, Jon Kortajarena) that tempt George, and his suffering. Still, none of them assuage the pain, and none of them compare to Jim.

All of this amounts to a flawlessly moving tale, at least for Isherwood’s novel. But the language of cinema is spoken differently than literature. The concise and telling prose of the book suffers somewhat in translation—a slightly overstated act of too much literalization on the part of Ford, who perhaps is ‘too close’ to the source material for proper rendering. The appreciable homages to classic film and fashion design often distract the inferiority of George’s journey, which, in the novel at least, is best left to the subtleties of George’s character, his furrowed face. Firth is more than capable of performing this task – and he recovers what he can from the film’s minor missteps – but a hunger lingers after the credits to return to the book.

Nonetheless, “A Single Man’s” coming to terms with the basic, existential questions of life, its miraculous examination of the apartness of gay individuals – then and now – make it a winner in my book. A modest, but honorable, beginning to 2010.

Grade: B-